Shenzhen firm to sidestep Mickey

Shenzhen firm to sidestep Mickey

China’s top theme park developer plans to avoid direct competition with The Walt Disney Company by developing new theme parks outside major cities, and a renewed focus on the nation’s culture.
 
The company, Shenzhen OCT Holding Company (OCT), plans to develop the chain of theme parks nationwide.
“We aim to have theme parks show up in most provincial cities around China,” said Liu Pingchun, board chairman of OCT, a Shenzhen Stock Exchange-listed firm.
The chairman stated the company has the advantage over foreign theme-park operators because it infuses Chinese culture into all elements of its parks.
OCT will incorporate “elements of Chinese culture into all the products offered in the parks,” he said.
“Without culture, no theme park can last long,” said the chairman.
Liu declined to detail either the size of the investment or the timetable for the expansion plan, except to say the investment would be “huge”.
OCT, the world’s eighth largest theme park operator, believes the current moves would help fend off fierce competition from international players like Disney.
OCT opened its first park, “Splendid China”, in Shenzhen in 1989 and also has parks in Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu.
Future OCT developments are expected to target smaller, provincial cities.
“We are researching and developing new models of theme parks tailored to second-tier cities in China. They will be different from our current parks in products and design,” Liu said.
In addition to Splendid China, OCT created Shenzhen’s “Happy Valley” theme park in 1998, with a new target audience – China’s youth.
According to OCT, 25 million people visited Happy Valley in 2008, making it China’s most popular theme park.
China has over 2,500 theme parks with many already facing tough times due to the global recession, according to official estimates.
However, the influx of foreign competition in the sector is expected to improve the overall quality of domestic theme parks.
“Nobody can ignore the impact from our international counterparts. Chinese players can learn from them, improving service and products,” said Liu.
In November, US-based entertainment giant Walt Disney received approval from the local authorities to set up its second theme park in Shanghai. The company already has a theme park in Hong Kong.

Steel lobby sure FMG wont skip 10 talks

Steel lobby sure FMG won’t skip ‘10 talks

Fortescue Metals Group (FMG), Australia’s third-largest iron ore miner, is unlikely to skip next year’s iron ore talks with the nation’s steelmakers despite not receiving necessary financing from Chinese investors for its expansion plans, a steel industry lobby official said Tuesday.
“FMG could be involved in next year’s iron ore talks since the game rules between Chinese steelmakers and the three global iron ore giants have changed,” said Luo Bingsheng, vice-president of China Iron & Steel Association (CISA). FMG couldn’t be reached for comment.
The Australian miner will also likely stick to its promise of exporting iron ore to China at a price lower than what Rio Tinto and BHP are offering despite the failed bid to secure financing, he said.
FMG reportedly exported 9.35 million tons of iron ore in the third quarter, up 19 percent from the previous quarter.
“The rising business volume may net FMG abundant funds to support its expansion plans,” said Xu Xiangchun, a senior analyst at consultant firm Mysteel.
FMG settled the iron ore price agreement for the second half of this year with CISA in August with a 3 percent lower discount than what Rio and BHP offered to Asian steel companies.
In return, China was expected to provide FMG with $5.5 billion to $6 billion to help it expand production.However, after the final deadline for negotiations, FMG did not reach any agreement with Chinese investors.
CISA’s Luo said the long-term contract settled by China’s steel enterprises and FMG was separate from any other financial agreements.
On Monday, FMG Chief Executive Andrew Forrest said the company could self-finance its plan to more than triple annual output to about 95 million tons.
The World Steel Association warned recently that China’s steel demand growth could drop to 5 percent next year from 19 percent this year as the impact of the government’s stimulus packages gradually slackened.
Analyst Xu Xiangchun said it was still too early to forecast next year’s iron ore prices as the timing and the recovery prospects of the global steel industry were still uncertain.

Sinopec to start huge project in Zhenhai

Sinopec to start huge project in Zhenhai

Sinopec plans to start a 1-million-ton-per-year ethylene complex in Zhejiang province by the end of the first quarter of 2010 at the earliest, industry sources said yesterday.
The project is located in Zhenhai in the city limits of Ningbo. It is linked with a refinery in Zhenhai, now the biggest one under Sinopec’s ownership.
Sinopec, Asia’s largest refiner, aims to eventually double the capacity of Zhenhai ethylene complex to 2 million tons per year, making it one of the world’s biggest, Reuters reported yesterday.
Construction of the project will be completed by the end of this year. It is scheduled to start operation at the end of the first quarter of 2010 or early in the second quarter, said the report, citing an unnamed person familiar with the project.
Construction of the project is in line with China’s stimulus package for its petrochemical industry. Under the plan, China will build three or four oil refining bases in the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, and Bohai Sea-rim economic zone. The oil refining bases will have a minimum refining capacity of 20 million tons each.
Together with the refining facilities, three or four ethylene projects with annual production capacities of 2 million tons each will also be built.

Last month Sinopec and German chemical maker BASF announced they would jointly invest $1.4 billion to expand their joint venture in Nanjing in Jiangsu province. The project included expansion of an existing steam cracker, under which its capacity will be increased to 740,000 metric tons a year from 600,000 tons. A steam cracker is a facility to produce ethylene.
The expanded project will produce downstream specialty chemicals for the Chinese market, serving multiple industries such as construction, electronics, pharmaceuticals, automotive and chemical manufacturing, the two companies said in a joint statement.